Winter Gathering Revisited

Life gets so busy. So its taken me a while to organize my pictures and my thoughts.

I still hold that I can only do Vegas for about three nights before it gets to be a lot. It's loud. Full of smoke. Expensive. Surreal. Fattening. Sleepless.

But when you do it with a bunch of poker bloggers, it's a lot better. (Read that line all by itself out of context - see if you can't help but giggle a little.)

I've been to several of these gatherings now. Sometimes as an observer, sometimes by myself, several times with the good Dr. in tow.

I can't decide if the best part is revisiting all the people and the things you've come to adore . . . or finding out how much you love discovering new things and new people to adore.

This could be a long post - skip to the pictures if you wish.

A FEW PEOPLE AND THINGS I MISSED . . .

Tragedy. Last year he chaperoned me in the Dr.'s absence, dedicated the tournament to DrChako, and got everyone to sign the guitar. Oh, and was a constant and safe sources of hugs for me whenever I wanted.

BamBam and Pebbles. Last year was the first time I met them. Now they feel like part of my family. I still missed getting the life squeezed out of me by BamBam, comparing cleavage distraction factors with Pebs, and the occasional lip-lock as BamBam gets further and further into the scotch.

Otis. *sigh* 'Nuff said. *sigh*

Waffles. I could have used a good laugh followed by a good rant.

The Procedure and skillets (though I don't miss still having money in my pocket). A fru-fru spa. More poker. More kissing.

A FEW PEOPLE AND THINGS I WAS EXCITED TO EXPERIENCE AGAIN . . .

Betty. My favorite new friend this year. Girls so totally rock. She's the only one worth getting out of bed early (read, before 10 a.m. in Vegas) to share breakfast with.

Drizz. Questionable choice in teams, but lovable nonetheless. I'm convinced that if we lived closer, our families would be close. And he'd be in our home games. And I'd have to keep a little Captain in the house for him.

Falstaff. I don't know why, but I cannot help but want to hug this bear everytime I see him. And kiss him. It helps that he claims to have a crush on me. But he's thoroughly adorable. Unless he's taking your money at mixed games. Which is why I don't play them with him or my husband.

Joshua. I know he lives here in town with us, and I love having him at home games, but it was great to see him in Vegas. Plus he was willing to hang out and talk with me while I got some chow after the tourney. Funny how you kind of know people, but get to know them better when you sit down one on one and have a conversation. Although after talking to him, I don't want to date any women in Oklahoma.

Spaceman. He and and his adorable little wife Rachel (and next to me, she is LITTLE) are really two of the sweetest people. He's a great poker player and unfortunately, I couldn't lure him into contributing any more chips to my pile. A few more and I might have been able to last a little longer. But he's so genuine and always has a smile and a hug.

Kat. She's a sweetheart and always has a huge and a smile too. And she's a good kisser. I think I like her most because she's real. I wish we lived closer. I think we'd have a great time just getting together and sharing a drink. If I could ever get her and DrChako off the bike. I fully expect that some point I'll lose him to this vixen and the road, if only for a short time.

CK and FTrain. Speaker. Al. Rooster. CA April. StB. I know I'll forget somebody important. Drinks at the IP. Games at the MGM (though I'm staying away from the mixed games). The tourney (though I should have done the "last longer" bet with the Seattle crew - I totally would have rocked that bet). The Wynn buffet. Sunday games at the IP. The opulence of the big casinos. The people-watching.

A FEW NEW PEOPLE AND THINGS I GOT TO EXPERIENCE . . .

Dr Jeff. Otis' brother. He joined us for the Steel Panthers excursion. I'd not had the chance to meet him before, but apparently the Otis genes are strong in this one. He had an absolutely adorable personality, and is completely huggable. Which is an important criterion in my book. Please tell me you will attend more events in the future. You can take credit for your brother's blog . . .

PokerPeaker. My newest favorite person. Newest blogger crush. (Careful Otis - he's gaining ground). Without this odd collection of poker players, geography would probably dictate that Peaker and I would not have met. I had met him before. Read his blog before. Favorite blog was one about poop that still makes me laugh. But the Steel Panther event and subsequent weekend activities was the first time we spent any serious time together. After sharing conversations about parenting, surgical birth control, appropriate cleavage levels, 80's rock, poker, and various other topics . . . I'm sold. He's so much fun. Loves Steel Panthers and hair bands. And he's so adorable. Oh, and when you hug him? No body fat. I guess that is what you get when you climb a bazillion mountains. Adorable. Just adorable. Look at this picture. Is he not adorable? *sigh*



Oh Captain and Oh Countess. Again, another one of those adorable, real couples that I wished lived closer. Found out that in addition to loving poker, we are sharing very similar parenting timelines and share a love of photography and writing. And they are just a hell of a nice couple. Although I am not sure they'll ever let their adorable daughters get close to our adorable sons. Even though age-wise, they are so nicely aligned. Hint, hint.

Steel Panthers. Followed by poker at the Green River Ranch casino where feisty Montana boys make comments on my rack and get escorted out of the casino (not for making comments on my rack - for threatening to slit another players throat). Breakfast with Betty. Watching the Dealertainers. Dinner with new friends (thanks again, Princess Maigrey, Gracie, Pablo, StB, and CA April).

And now, for the weekend in pictures:

View from our room at the Palazzo . . .

I swear Dr. Chako can smell Ferrari . . .

A Randy Couture sighting at the MGM . . .

Oh Captain rakes some chips at the final table . . .

Poker Peaker takes a stab at Maigrey's stack . . .

The Princess debates how much to suck out of her opponents this time . . .

Her winning chips and her collected bounty . . .

She poses with The Hammer . . .

Speaker performs inappropriate acts with her new prize . . .

Drizz, the Bracelet (sans facial hair), and DrChako

Dinner with the winner . . . DrChako gets the seafood tower.

The newlyweds . . . congratulations you two!

Stb and CA April . . . rock on!

I'm sure I've forgotten someone or something important . . . take no offense . . . I'll catch you next time in Vegas . . . .

Respectfully submitted,

The Wife